Method of making wheels



March 5, 1940. R. c. INGERSOLL 2,192,403

METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS Filed July 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fizverzir March 5, 1940- R. c. INGERSOLL METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS Filed July 24, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 5, 1940 smear METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS Roy 0. Ingersoli, Winnetka, 111., assignor to Borg- Warner Corporation; Chicago, 111., a. corporation of Illinois Application Iuly 24, 1937, Serial No. 155,413

3 Claims.

This invention relates to wheel-shaped objects and to a method of forming such objects.

Wheels may be roughly classified into two general groups; first, spoked wheels,i. e., wheels in which the web between the rim and hub is comprised of distinct radial members, and second, disc wheels, i. e., wheels in which the web is comprised of a single disc.

spoked wheels can be formed in a number of ways, but the one most commonly used, particularly in the lighter types of wheels, consists in forming a hub and rim separately, and then securing the radial spokes tothe hub and rim to form a complete wheel. The spokes are riveted or welded to either or both the rim and hub. It is apparent that a great many operations are required to form a complete wheel, and that since each operation entails a separate handling, by man or machine, a reduction in the number of such operations would result in a reductlon in the cost of producing the wheel.

Disc wheels, although not requiring as many operations as spoked wheels, are blanked from rectangular stock so that a large partof the stock.

is scrapped and any economy in operations inherent in such wheels is thus offset by a waste of material. In a typical case a finished disc which weighs 19 lbs. requires a blank weighing 34 lbs. for its formation,which means that lbs., or roughly 45% of the original material is scrapped. r

This invention seeks in general to provide-a method by which both spoked and disc wheels can be manufactured more economically than heretofore. It seeks to do this without the use of expensive machinery, and in fact, to employ practically the same steps and machinery for the formation of both the spoked type and disc type of wheels.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a method of making substantially disc wheels from rectangular blanks with a minimum of waste.

A feature of this invention is a method of making wheels from interfitting toothed blanks, the teeth being of such configuration that when the blanks are rolled and tapered, the spaces between the teeth are reduced to form an apparently continuous rim.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the following detailed descrlption when taken together with the accomand in which:

Fig. 1 is a notched parallel-sided strip of metal from which the wheels are blanked;

Figure 2 shows one of the blanks rolled or curled into acylinder;

Figure 3 is a section through the cylinder of s Figure 2 with the teeth expanded radially and the lands between the teeth contracted or drawn Figure 4 is a section showing the curled blank with the teeth flattened radially;

Figures 5 and 6 are sections showing single and dual wheel bodies made from flattened blanks such as shown in Figure 4; and

Figures 7 and 8 are a section and an elevationrespectively of a finished wheel with rim, tire and w hub attached.

In general, the novel method of forming wheels to be hereinafter described in detail, consists in blanking identical toothed sections from generally rectangular or straight-sided stock in 2d such a manner that one is the complement of the other, and hence no material is wasted. The toothed sections are next rolled to form a closed cylinder, and the abuttingends of the solid portion or land between the teeth may be secured together, if necessary. Next, the teeth are spread radially outward, tapered; trimmed, and .then given their final form. Lastly, the wheel is secured'to a rim and, hub, thereby forming'a complete wheel. It will be observed that, except for the trimming operation, no material is wasted throughout the entire method from the time the wheel is in stock form to the time the wheel is finished.

Referring momentarily to Fig. 8 wherein is shown a finished disc wheel similar to a type now in use, it is apparent that the wheel is not a solid disc, but is provided with apertures spaced equally about the outer portion of the web. These apertures reduce the weight of the wheel, de- 40 crease the gyroscopic'eiiect of the spinning mass, provide hand-holds for workmen and enhance the general appearance of the wheel. It will be noted that the apertures are relatively few in number and are located at the outer portion of the wheel. The central portion is recessed to form'a flange which is bolted to a brake-drum.

Figs. 1 to 5 show a disc wheel such as that of Fig. 8, at various stages in the process of its formation by the method of this invention. It is blanked from substantially straight-sided Stock in the form of a toothed section F, leaving an identical interfitting toothed section G. In the wheel selected for illustration, flve apertures are formed, leaving in effect five spokes. Sec- 3' tion F, therefore, is provided with a set of teeth 90 and with a land Ill. Due to the fact that the apertures are partly closed ofl by the ends of the spokes", the teeth are formed initially with a wide tip and a narrow base. The stock is consequently lanced along a line such as that shown at H.

Although the section can betapered while in the flat stage, I prefer to roll the section into a cylinder first, as shown in Fig. 2, the abutting ends of land 100 being preferably welded as before.

After the section has been made cylindrical, teeth 99 are bent radially outward as shown in Fig. 3, and, in addition, land I is made conical in anticipation of the formation of the central flange. The point at which teeth 99 may be bent may bechosen to suit the manufacturer,

but I prefer to bend the teeth at the bases thereof. Land 100, should, therefore be of sufficient length so that when rolled into a cylinder, the cylinder will have a diameter equal to the diameter across the bases of the teeth. The bending of the teeth is preferably done in several stages, the first being shown in solid lines in Fig. 3 and the last in dotted lines.

With teeth 99 distended, the section is next placed in an index mill such as the one described in Roy C. Ingersoll Patent No. 1,894,689, dated January 1'7, 1933, wherein the teeth are tapered and widened at the tip as shown in Fig. 4. The tapering may be so controlled as to cause the material to flow circumferentially rather than radially and the gap between the ends of adjacent teeth is therefore decreased to simulate closed hand-holds. Following the tapering operation the section is placed in a press where land I00 is drawn into a flange I02 and the entire section is trimmed.

The flanged and trimmed section is finally formed as shown in Fig. 5 in a suitable press and bolt holes I03 are pierced in flange I02, preferably in a single operation. Although the "space between teeth is not completely closed at the outer edge of the wheel, the teeth are bent at the tips so that they may be secured to a rim, and the apertures are so designed that the curvature of the rim blends with the shape of the aperture and min closure.

izes the efiect of the incomplete For some purposes, a double-disc wheel suchas that shown in Fig. 6 may be desirable. The discs of which it is formed are sirnilarto the disc of Fig. 5' except that flange M211 is exterior to the main portion of the disc. To form such a flange it is only necessary to bend the teeth of the section of Fig. 4 downward instead of upward as in Fig. 5. flanges may then be arranged with the flanges thereof adjacent one another to form the doubledisc wheel of Fig. 6.

Figs. 7 and 8 show a completed wheel using the disc of Fig. 5. A tire rim I04 is welded or otherwise secured to the bent tips of teeth 89, and the entire wheel is bolted to a brake-drum I05. A hub cap I06 extends through the central aperture in the disc and conceals the'axle or Two discs with external shaft upon which the brake-drum is rotatively mounted.

A single disc having an external flange such as shown in Fig. 6 may alsov be used with the rim and hub of Figs. 7 and 8.

It is apparent that the method Just described is not dependent upon the number of apertures in the disc, nor upon the depth of the recess or size of the flange, and hence the method is applicable generally to form any type of apertured disc wheel. It is also apparent that except for the trimming operation, no material is removed from the section during the formation of the wheel, and hence there is a negligible amount of wasted material.

It is understood that the foregoing description is merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments of my invention andthat the methods and wheels described are susceptible of a great number of changes without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the invention, therefore, is not to be'limited to the foregoing description, but is to be determined by the appended claims.

' I claim:

l. A method of forming apertured wheels which comprises lancing sheet material along a sinuous line to form a toothed section, rolling the land adjacent the teeth to form a cylinder,

welding together the abutting ends of the land,

simultaneously bending the teeth radially outward and drawing the opposite end of the land inward to form a wheel, and tapering the ends of the teeth to reduce the thickness and increase the width of said ends whereby to reduce the spacing between the teeth.

2. The method of forming apertured wheels which comprises lancing. a sheet material along a sinuous line to form a toothed section, rolling the land adjacent the teeth to form a cylinder, welding together the abutting ends of the land, simultaneously'bending the teeth radially outward and drawing the opposite end of the land inward to form a wheel, tapering theends of the teeth to reduce the thickness and increase the width of said-ends whereby to reduce the spacing between the teeth, forming a flange centrally of the wheel and trimming excess material from the teeth while giving the wheel its final form,

3. The method of forming a one piece pressed sheet metal hub and apertured disc web of a wheel including'the steps of lancing a metal sheet along a sinuous line passing back and forth across the center line of said sheet toform teeth having enlarged tip portions and reduced stem portions, forming a wheel from each of the resulting sections by rolling the land adjacent the teeth to form a cylinder, welding together the abutting ends of said land, bending the teeth radially outwardly and drawing the opposite end of said land inwardly to form a hub flange and turning the outer portions of said teeth to form a peripheral flange adapted for attachment to the rim of a wheel. 1

ROY C. INGERSOIL. 

